


Of Ghosts And Revenge

by Krasimer



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Going Home Again, Magnus goes home, Ravensroost, Taako is going to protect his family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 17:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17006286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: On the one hand, Magnus goes home.On the other, he has some very good friends.





	1. Ghosts and Going Home

The house was just as he remembered it.

Magnus took a deep breath, his bag slung over his shoulder. The dust stirred in the air, disturbed by the door having been opened. The furniture was just as it had been, just where it had been placed by steady hands almost a decade earlier.

If he closed his eyes and just breathed in the slightly stale air, he could smell her perfume still.

With almost no say from him involved, Magnus found himself walking into the living room, dropping his bag onto the couch he had spent hours carving. There were a few mistakes on the arms, it had been one of the first big things he had carved when he and Julia had decided to build their home from the ground up. He ran his hands over one of the too-slick spots where his knife had slipped.

Julia had insisted that he leave it, had told him that it gave the couch some character.

His chest went tight as he remembered her curling up on the cushion in front of him, her feet tucked under her and a smile on her face that almost outshone the stars in her eyes. She had always been working on something when she sat on the couch, had told him that it gave her comfort when she was stressed out by deadlines and fussy customers.

Her hands had been soft when she held him, brushing his hair back from his face as he dozed with his head in her lap.

He stood up from the couch and turned away from it, moving towards the rocking chair he had been experimenting on with his techniques. The oil rubbed into the wood before the final lacquer, on this chair, was a rosemary and pine scent that Julia had loved.

‘ _That house is a testament to everything I lived for,’_ he had told Taako and Merle. ‘ _I built it, every detail of it, for her. She worked on the structure of it and I filled it with my love for her._ ’

Ravensroost was still mostly empty, but he was working on it. He had only come back because someone had dared set foot inside the city limits and found the will and testament of Steven Waxman. His father-in-law, his Master of Woodcraft, Julia’s father. The will had named Magnus as the sole beneficiary, the only one left alive.

If he let his eyes go unfocused, he could practically see Julia teaching him how to dance in their living room.

She had refused to let him sit down until he had gotten the first steps perfect, until he knew how to dance them backward. Her strong will had been one of his favorite things about her, the way she could be soft but would only be soft if she knew she could trust the person she was talking to.

It was like walking through a house full of ghosts.

After they had gotten married, Steven had gifted them the plot of land they had built their house on. Julia had gotten to the planning of the house right away, excited to be building the structure.

His memories were flooding through his thoughts, dragging his mind this way and that.

Magnus moved on from the living room entirely.

The ice box would have to go.

The kitchen was in surprisingly good shape but the ice box was going to have to _go_ if the mildew and mold he could see on the outside of it was any sort of sign. The sink and the counters were in good condition, still, not an inch of them ravaged by the near-decade that had passed since someone had been anywhere near them. Magnus picked up the icebox and threw open the window, tossing the entire thing outside and listening to it shatter against the ground with a wet-sounding crunch.

With something like a sigh, the breeze flowed in through the window, stirring up even more dust.

This was where he needed to be.

After the day of Story and Song, he had been helping people rebuild. He had helped communities get back on their feet, had helped people build their homes back up from broken pieces or the nothingness they had become in the Hunger’s attack.

When that was done, however, he had been left with nothing else to do.

Davenport had actually been the one to tell him about Ravensroost. The gnome had heard people talking about the abandoned city and had asked about the name. Upon finding it out, he had sent a letter back to Magnus.

Magnus had packed his bag and gone off immediately.

 _‘I need to stop running away,’_ he had told his family. Merle and Taako had exchanged a look that he had come to recognize and he knew there was something they weren’t going to tell him. He would let them keep their secrets, for now. One day, they would tell him.

That was how it worked.

There was something at the edge of his memory, something he couldn’t touch anymore. Like a hole, like how the Voidfish’s powers had made parts of his mind feel. He could remember having given something up in Wonderland, could remember telling Taako and Merle not to try and tell him afterwards, but he couldn’t even begin to guess at what it was.

Or rather, he couldn’t even begin to want to guess.

He couldn’t quite remember how Julia had died. He knew she had gone down fighting, knew he had been out of the city at the time, but he didn’t remember the why or the how of it.

The house around him filled with the scent of the flowers growing outside, the window garden overgrown after so long abandoned. He had been so proud of managing to make them grow, once. Julia had been proud of him, too, had insisted on putting them where she could see them every day. They were a connection to his past, now, in the same way the Starblaster was.

The different versions of himself would probably look at each other and maybe laugh.

For a moment, Magnus thought he felt a hand on his shoulder, the same way Julia had once touched gently to let him know she was there.

When he turned, he saw the door to the bedroom slightly ajar.

It hadn’t been, before.

Chuckling, Magnus shook his head as he moved towards it. The dark stain of the door had survived despite their windows allowing in the sunshine. Pushing it open all the way, he saw their bed. The last morning he had been home, he and Julia had stayed in bed for an extra twenty minutes, just holding on with gentle hands and laughing smiles. It had been an ordinary day, just like any other.

He had been going on the trip later, so they had spent a little extra time together.

Julia had always hated tucking in the blankets and the sheets, had preferred to let them air out by letting them stay untucked until the last second. From the clumsy way the top of the blanket was rolled back and the way the pillows were crooked, he could tell she had been just waiting to use it to joke with him when he got home. Her bed at her father’s house was where she stayed when he was away.

She had always hated staying somewhere alone, hated the quiet of it.

Magnus sat down on his side of the bed, glancing over to her bedside table. The small row of ducks he had made for her over the years was still lined up on the edge of it. Around him, the house was so quiet that he felt almost like he had walked into a tomb.

He would make it feel like a home again, he decided as he breathed in the air. Her scent was a faint trace, stirred up by the breeze.

“About time I came home, right?” Magnus said aloud, smiling.

This was Julia’s home, he decided. He would do his best to honor her with how he lived in it.


	2. Of Vengeance and Anger

“Okay,” Taako rolled out a map. “I’m a little annoyed you started the revenge mish without me, but it’s whatever.”

Lup snorted, grinning at her brother. “There was a very good reason we started the revenge mission without you, Koko,” she glanced across the table to where Lucretia sat, both of them refusing to say anything further about what they had done.

Sure, Sazed had turned himself in once the truth about Taako had been broadcasted to the world, but that had not been enough. Taako still did his best to never use magic while he was cooking and that was a world that Lup didn’t want to live in. Her brother was still so traumatized over what someone else had done in his name that he wasn’t at his best with it anymore.

When her brother still woke up with nightmares about it every night, she considered what she and Lucretia had done to Sazed to be justified.

The man would never be able to walk into a dark alley again without jumping at every shadow and flicker of light, they had made sure of it. Lup hummed when Taako stuck his tongue out at her, weighing down the corners of the map with a couple of books. “So we’re looking for who?” she asked, nudging the subject away from what she and Lucretia may or may not have done. No one could prove it.

“The Governor Kalen,” Taako bit his bottom lip, narrowing his eyes at the map. “Krav says he is probably in Ithenia,” he gestured vaguely at a landmass. “He’s the guy who went all kill-crazy on Magnus’s home.” He took a deep breath in through his nose, probably still trying to deal with the memories he had regained. Thirteen years of looking out only for himself had left their mark – Taako still had trouble making himself show affection for his little family.

He and Lucretia were still at odds, but he was slowly learning to be able to trust her again.

She was slowly earning it.

Tapping a spot on the map, Lup nodded. “Alright. So what’s the plan?”

“I was just figuring we’d find the guy, corner him, then _destroy him_ ,” Taako shrugged a shoulder. “Too inelegant?”

Merle walked back into the room, his stone of Farspeech held up to his mouth as he spoke into it. “Yeah, will do.” His eyes crinkled with the force of his smile. “Love you too, sweetpea, hug Mookie for me. Alright, yeah, talk to you later.” He ended the call and stuffed the stone in his pocket as he climbed back into the stool he’d vacated a few minutes earlier. “Sorry, Mavis wanted to remind me about the trip coming up next week.”

“Working with a time limit, good to know,” Taako raised his eyebrows at the dwarf, grinning. “So we’ve got to get you back to Neverwinter in time for that.” He turned to Lucretia, his grin faltering for a second. “Do we need to get you back in time for anything?”

“I have a few meetings coming up next week, but nothing that cannot be rescheduled,” she picked up her mug of tea and took a sip.

“Good.” Taako turned back to Lup. “Do you know where Barold is right now?”

“He should be here soon,” she checked the time, frowning. “He might have gotten held up with a soul on the run. He and Kravitz were going after that nest of necromancers in Brennan.” She giggled, watching Taako shake his head. “But while we’re waiting for him, we might as well start planning. Governor Kalen killed Julia Waxman-Burnsides. We have some revenge to plot.”

“Yeah,” Merle gestured to the empty space he’d once had an eye. “I kinda wish we could get some revenge on the stupid assholes who took my eye and his memories in the first place, but I think you got to do that for us.”

Lup grinned, letting sparks flash around her hands for a second. “Yep.”

A knock on the door silenced them all. If it had been Barry or Kravitz, they would have just come inside without knocking. Lup let her hands fill with true fire, stepping back from the table to avoid scorching the map. Taako grabbed the KrebStar, sliding himself into a ready position.

Lucretia set down her mug and took her staff in hand, her knuckles clenched white on the wood of it.

Merle stood up and moved to the door, opening it slowly. “Hello?”

“Good evening,” came a voice that immediately set Lup on edge. “My name is Kalen, I understand you’re looking for me?”

“We hadn’t even gotten to that part yet,” Merle shrugged. “How’d you know?”

“I have my ways,” Kalen shoved the door open, out of Merle’s hand and striding in past him. Behind him, walking in synch and holding matching weapons, two thugs that weren’t nearly as muscular as Magnus followed. “I am Governor Kalen,” he announced to the room at large. The oiliness of his voice made Lup want to slam a flame-laden palm into his face to see if she couldn’t burn some of it away. “I know there was some event that made it so that the world knew who you are,” he continued, clasping his hands together behind his back. “But I cannot begin to make clear how much I do not care about that.”

He glanced at the two who had come in with him. “Everyone has a price, after all,” he nodded at them and they pulled out a sack of gold each. “Nine-hundred gold to leave. Another nine-hundred if you tell me where Magnus Burnsides is.”

“Pfft,” Taako shook his head. “As if we’d give up Magnus for that.”

“I am easily able to double that offer,” Kalen’s smile was a knife-edge, thin and cruel, and it made Lup uneasy.

Taako looked just as unimpressed as Lup was.

“None of you understand, do you?” he put his hands together in front of himself, his fingers steepled. “I am a rich and powerful man and as soon as Magnus is _dead_ , well…” he hmm’d. “Let’s just say I can start where I left off. He ran me out of town and when I retaliated, he ran and hid. Not quite the hero everyone thinks he is, that one.”

“He was out of town,” Taako’s upper lip curled back and Lup felt her face mimicking her brother’s. “You attacked his city while everyone thought they were safe, you _murdered_ a bunch of people because your _ego_ got a little _trampled._ ”

“Oh?” Kalen stepped closer to Taako. “Dear me, it seems you’re a lot of bark. Tell me, is there any bite to that snarl of yours, puppy? Everyone has a price, even heroes.” He reached out and put a hand on Taako’s chin, holding tight when Taako tried to yank away. “A disgraced celebrity chef, do you really think you know what’s going on? You are no better than me, surely. Do you really think you are? You murdered so many and then you _ran_.”

Lup just barely managed to hold her temper as she watched the creep hold onto her brother. She and her family outnumbered the asshole and his goons, but the three of them might not be the only ones around.

There was also the chance that Kalen would attack Taako with something if any of them made the first attack.

“My name is Taako,” Taako’s grin was sharp this time. “And the person who did the actual murdering is a man named Sazed. Last I heard, he at least had the dignity and grace to turn himself the fuck in, admitting he framed cha’boy.” He raised a hand and waggled his fingers. “So, y’know.”

Kalen’s smile grew a little more strained, struggling to hide the nasty temper Lup could see building up behind it. “Is that so.”

“Yeah,” Taako took a step back from him, dislodging his fingers.

There were imprints on his face.

Lup felt her own temper flare at the sight of what would probably be bruising on her brother’s skin. Before she could let it run loose like a wildfire inside of her, a scythe blade curled around Kalen’s neck from behind him. “What you are going to do,” came the dangerously smooth version of Kravitz’s accent. “Is keep your hands off of him.”

Next to her, Lup could feel Barry’s warmth and she leaned into his side. “So they fell for it?” she asked him.

“Oh, yeah,” Barry laughed. “Hook, line, and sinker. Every single one of Kalen’s men is in custody right now.” He nodded towards Kravitz. “Because he’s the emissary of the Raven Queen, he was given the right to collect the Governor, there. The man keeps a solid record of things he has done,” Barry looked a little wistful. “Well organized, well kept, _everything_ written down. The local militia wants to have a nice _long_ talk with him.”

Kalen, for his part in everything, looked like someone had come up and slapped him with a fish. “ _What?_ ”

“Oh, do you not get it?” Taako stepped back into his line of sight. “We tricked you. We knew you would find us, knew you couldn’t resist coming into contact with some of the people who care the most about Magnus. You wanted to see if you could pay us enough to give him up. If you couldn’t, you were going to have us killed.” He narrowed his eyes, baring his teeth in what could charitably be called a smile if one was ignoring the threat in his gaze. “Well, you were going to try. I think this puppy has more than enough bite, what do you think?”

“I think there is definitely more than enough bite,” Kravitz pulled gently on his scythe to keep Kalen from surging forward and trying to attack Taako. “There is enough information for every single thing he has done. They can get him on charges of murder, fraud, arson, and possibly even embezzling and bribery.”

Spluttering and turning his head towards his goons, Kalen gestured at Lup and her small family. “Don’t just stand there, get them!”

“Oh, yes, wonderful idea,” Kravitz glared at the goons, tightening his grip on his scythe. “Attack me or my family while I have this to your boss’s neck, I will be ensuring that there is no trial. Simply a shallow grave.” They still took a step forward and he shook his head. “Need I remind you he is the one paying you? His funds are very much tied up right now. If you take another step forward, there is absolutely no chance of you ever being paid. Or of the both of you _surviving_.”

The goons stepped back immediately, raising their hands in the air.

“That’s what I thought,” Kravitz nodded.

Lup watched Taako’s eyes shift from angry to _almost literal heart eyes_ as he stared at Kravitz. This was her family, she thought as she watched them neatly shut down the asshole that had hurt their brother.

She wouldn’t let them get hurt again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Governor Kalen gets his, in the end. 
> 
> And yes, Lup and Lucretia did go on a roadtrip to destroy Sazed.

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who has run out of patience for power-mad despots taking over and harming people because they are throwing a fit.


End file.
